Quotations: After the establishment of Israel

“In our country there is only room for the Jews. We shall say to the Arabs: Get out! If they don’t agree, if they resist, we shall drive them out by force.” (History of the Haganah)

~Ben-Zion Dinur, Israeli Minister of Education and Culture, 1954

“Why should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader, I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them?... They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that? They may perhaps forget in one or two generations’ time, but for the moment there is no chance.” (Nahum Goldmann, The Jewish Paradox)

~ David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding father and first prime minister, 1956